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Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Jackass cast member dies in crash

Jackass star Ryan Dunn has died in a car crash when his vehicle burst into flames after a night out with friends.

Police say Dunn and an unidentified passenger were driving his Porsche 911 in Philadelphia about 2.30am local time on Monday when the sports car left the road, flew over a guardrail and slammed into a tree, exploding into a fireball.

The 34-year-old stunt show actor and his passenger were killed instantly.

Dunn was identified by his tattoos after his body was pulled from the charred wreckage, according to a witness at the crash scene, NBC Philadelphiareports.

The crash occurred near the Philadelphia suburb of West Chester.

Dunn was last seen at a bar just hours before the crash and had even posted a picture of himself drinking with friends on his Twitter. It has since been removed from his account.

April Margera, the mother of Dunn's close friend Bam Margera, was apparently the first to confirm the death after she called into a morning radio station to say that one of the Jackass stars had been killed in an accident.

MTV released a statement via Twitter saying: "We're deeply saddened by the passing of a member of the MTV family, Ryan Dunn. Our hearts and thoughts are with his friends and family."

Jackass producers including paid tribute to Dunn in a statement posted on website Dickhouse Entertainment.

"I don't really know what to say right now everybody, because the sadness is overwhelming, but today we lost one of our own," the show’s director, Jeff Tremaine, said in the statement.

"Our hearts go out to his family and his beloved Angie. Ryan will be missed and remembered by us all."